Just Moments
by always krissy
Summary: Just random drabbles of things I have written. one new drabble added, Karone&Newsies.
1. Lostgalaxy

Disclaimer: Power Rangers does not belong to me! 

  
"So, you and Kendrix? Shoulda seen that one coming, man." 

The curious sound of Leo's voice interrupted Kai's train of thought, and his pencil's tip snapped as he jumped, lead spraying across his notebook. 

"What? Oh. No." 

"Huh. My sources are never wrong." 

Kai rolled his eyes and lightly dusted the splattered pencil into his trash bin. Right. Sources. Probably Bulk and the Professor. 

"First time for everything, dude." 

Ignoring Leo's look of annoyance, Kai concentrated on his notebook. It was just scribbles, although some of it resembled notes and reminders for his work at the GSA. 

"Well, Bul--Uh, my source, Brain, said that you have been seen acting all 'moony and love sick.' So if not Kendrix, who??" 

It was a rather blunt question, but coming from Leo, Kai wasn't all that surprised. He was the king at that trick. Maya showed more tact than him, and that was saying something. 

Exhaling loudly, Kai said, sharply, "No one, okay? There's no one. No girl. No guy. No 'it.'" 

"Aww," Leo pouted, and Kai quickly looked away, biting his lower lip. No. It wouldn't work. 

Kai was learning. Slowly, but surely, he was learning his friend's games. 


	2. Ninjastorm

It was still unbelievable, even after their first successful battle. 

It felt like a plotline out of one of Dustin's comic books. And, in truth, it was. 

Power Rangers! 

Yesterday, it was just the latest sci-fi fad, and now, she was the Blue Wind Ranger, taking orders from a talking guinea pig and his (geeky) son. Okay, so the guinea pig was actually her Sensei, but still. 

If this didn't scream "crazy" and "silly," she didn't know what did. 

"Dude, can you believe this?" she could hear Dustin's excited chatter behind her, as he and Shane followed her off the grounds. "It's like so totally cool, dontcha think, Tori?" Tori shook her head in grim amusement as he threw an arm around her shoulders. 

"Whatever," she mumbled, rolling her eyes. "Like, this will totally be a dream in the morning, just you wait. Power Rangers," she scoffed. Parts of her wanted to runaway and forget about everything that had happened. 

She wanted everything to go back to normal - Sensei being human, Cam rolling his eyes at them being late every day (okay, that would never change, but still), Dustin being predictably airheaded (again, that would probably not change), and Shane always being the one to smooth down any argument between Dustin and herself. 

"Well..." Shane trotted up to Tori's other side, slinging his own arm around her waist, "I think this is real, Tor. No dream, this time." His voice was serious, but his smile was light and cheerful. "Besides, could even *you* cook up something this wild?" 

Tori sighed. Shane had a point, she supposed, and those baddies... Okay, maybe not a dream. At least not *her* dream. "This reminds me of the stories Dustin will tell when he's hyped up on Coke," she remarked, glancing sideways at the newest Yellow Wind Ranger. 

There was a moment of silence, before Dustin gave a belated "Hey!" 

Tori and Shane looked at each other silently before sharing a quick laugh. 

"Don't worry, Tori," Shane said, and squeezed her waist gently. "Nothing will be able to keep me down for long, so you don't have to worry about you and Dustin." 

They reached her van before she could comment about Shane's statement. She watched them climb inside, bickering the whole time about who got shotgun (Shane, as always, won.) 

Power Rangers, huh? 

Well, at least it wouldn't be boring. 


	3. Inspace 1

NOTES: Andros/Ashley is addicting. ;) Set way back in the beginning of the series. 

"Why are you always out here alone?"

The question startled Andros from his scanning and he barely managed to stop flinching from his surprise. He glanced cautiously over his shoulder and found a curious looking Ashley staring at him. He opened his mouth to reply, but she beat him to it before he could say a word.

"I mean," she continued, "you hardly sleep as it is, and then you come out here, playing on the computers. What do you do out here?"

"Checking out the Top 10 Galactic Rock."

"Huh?" Ashley stared at him, eyes wide.

"On the radio console," he offered in explanation.

"No, I don't mean that," she brushed his answer off with a shake of her hand, "I mean... You told a joke!"

"Is it really that surprising?"

Ashley pressed her lips together, as if she was seriously giving the question thought. At last, she grinned, "Yep. I mean, we've been on the MegaShip for what, a month now? And you haven't really said all that much outside the usual."

"'The Usual?'"

"You know, about stuff. Like training, schoolwork, daily chores, training, schoolwork, more training, more cleaning. Have I mentioned training?"

"We go to the Surf Spot," Andros argued. He fought the urge to make a face at her, like the ones Ashley exchanged with Cassie or Carlos in the midst of handing out cleaning assignments. Instead, he concentrated on the readouts in front of him. The papers marked the latest energy signatures from the Dark Fortress. Astronema was up to something but he didn't know what. It made him worry.

"But you don't talk about normal things there. Or here. Or ever, really." She turned to the nearest window and gave a small sigh of contentment that made him look up. "It's so beautiful out here, you know? Have you ever just taken a moment to _look_?"

Andros' expression turned confused, "I look outside every day." He glanced out the window, almost as if expecting it was a portal leading them to another planet. On second thought, he better check into that. Who knew what Astronema could have done to the ship while she'd been on it with the Turtles?

"But do you actually _see_ anything? The birds, the sun, the trees..."

"If you haven't noticed lately," Andros gestured to the window, "all we see right now is space."

"Well, at the moment, yeah," Ashley relented, "but... when we're in Angel Grove. Do you ever look then?"

He was silent for a moment before he shook his head. "Not really. I'm usually too busy to pay too much attention to everything."

At his words, Ashley smiled brightly. "Looks like I'm going to change that then. I have school in two hours. I'm going to go an hour early, and you," she patted his arm lightly, "are coming with me."

"What?" Andros moved away from her, his hands falling helplessly to his sides. "I don't have time to go down to Earth. I have too much to do here, more important things than to look at the silly trees and flowers."

"'Silly trees and flowers?'" she repeated. Her words were laced with something he was alien to. He would never understand her, and sometimes, he so desperately wanted to. "Oh, I see now. Well, _sorry_ for caring about you." She turned away from him, leaving as silently as she had first appeared.

Andros watched the empty entrance, and almost wished she would come back and they could start over. Knowing she wouldn't, he went back to his findings and pretended the whole encounter never happened.  
-

An hour and a half later, when she returned, with the other Rangers in tow, her smile was just as bright as it always was. But the blank look in her eyes told him she couldn't forget it as easily as he could.


	4. Dinothunder 1

_**Challenge Fic #1**_  
TITLE: First Kiss  
PAIRING: Ethan/Kira, Conner/Kira  
DIALOGUE: "I'm flattered, Ethan, but you know I'm involved with Conner."  
FOR: obsessivemuch  
  
Kira sat back with a frustrated sigh, throwing her pencil at her text book.  
  
"I'm really not getting this."  
  
Geometry was really not her thing, as Kira was discovering. She almost missed Algebra. Almost. She glanced sideways at Ethan, who was perched in the chair next to her, reading from a book for their English class.  
  
He seemed oblivious of her stare, and for some reason, it annoyed her.  
  
"Hey, Ethan," she whispered. She leaned on an elbow and watched him. He seemed perfectly content with her. They were sitting in a back room of the Cyberspace doing homework, and not even talking much. It was almost weird, but these days, he seemed almost... _afraid_ of his computer. And latched onto her company or the company of Conner, or surrounding himself with both of them.  
  
Finally, after what seemed like a century, he turned and looked at her.  
  
"You rang?"  
  
"Well," she hedged, "I was hoping you could help me with my math."  
  
"Sure," he agreed and smiled brilliantly. "Whatcha need help with?"  
  
"All of it," Kira admitted with a small grin of her own.  
  
Ethan looked at her and then at her book. "This is going to be a _long_ night."  
  
--  
  
Several hours, and three apple juices later, Kira finally finished the geometry assignment. She leaned back in the hard plastic chair with a smile. It was nice to actually understand something, and Ethan was a good teacher. She might actually remember it in the morning. Which was a feat in itself.  
  
"Thank you for the help," Kira said sincerely, "I really appreciate it. I would have been lost without you!"  
  
Ethan shrugged one of his shoulders, and nodded once, before grinning at her. "No problem, Kira. You know I'll always help you."  
  
"Well . . . Thanks."  
  
They fell into a comfortable silence. Kira doodled on one of her notebooks while Ethan stared at anything but her. It went on like that for a few minutes before they both began talking at once.  
  
"Do you want--"  
  
"Hey, want to--"  
  
They both broke off laughing.  
  
"You go first," Kira offered, still giggling.  
  
"Well, I was just going to ask if you wanted to go catch something to eat with me."  
  
"Can't," Kira shook her head. "I have dinner plans with Conner." She missed his pained expression, and continued on with her explanation, "He's taking me out to that new Italian place. You know the one that's really cheap? He's all excited because he can afford something there."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"And then he wanted to take me to see a movie. Some new horror movie that I can't remember the name of. All of them are the same," Kira made a face, "so I didn't really pay attention to which one he wanted to see."  
  
"Kira?"  
  
"Hmm?" Kira tilted her head and looked quizzically at him.  
  
Not trusting his voice, he closed the gap between them, and kissed her. It took Kira several seconds to realize what was happening and quickly pulled away. She could only stare at him as her brain tried to wrap itself around the idea that Ethan James had kissed her.  
  
"I . . . uh. What was that?" When Ethan didn't say anything, Kira continued to look at him. The mortified expression on his face made her heart melt. "I'm flattered, Ethan, but you know I'm involved with Conner." Still, Ethan didn't say anything, and Kira didn't know what else to add. Or what to think. It was Ethan! And she was in love with her boyfriend. "Well, I do need to go meet Conner. His soccer practice is bound to be over, and . . . well thanks again for helping me." She quickly gathered up her books and made a hasty retreat.  
  
If there hadn't been enough tension with Trent, now she had to worry about Ethan, too.  
  
And Ethan had been right.  
  
This was going to be a _long_ night. 


	5. Dinothunder 2

The knock on the door gradually woke Tommy Oliver from a deep sleep. It was consistent and wasn't going away, and it was becoming increasingly annoying. Stumbling awkwardly to his feet, he strode out of his bedroom and into the hallway. He barely acknowledged the cold floor against his bare feet. A glance at the clock confirmed it: it was only 7:30. AM. On a Saturday! One of his only days off, from well, practically everything. 

Grumbling about people and their rude behavior, he practically growled as he flung open the door. 

"Hello," a voice chirped. 

Tommy stared. 

"May I help you?" he finally asked. 

The voice belonged to a blonde. She wore a long dress; purple with white lilies. She carried a book - upon further investigation, it was a bible. 

"Well," she started, and her smile was blinding, "as a citizen of Reefside, you must be aware of the daily monster attacks." 

". . . Yes," Tommy agreed. 

"As a defining member of Reefside Christian Community Church, I wanted to speak to you on behalf of the evil population." 

"Excuse me?" Tommy blurted. As she had spoken, his eyes had grown wide with shock. 

"Well, not for them, exactly. But I ask if you would join me in a moment of silence. For them. If we pray, maybe we can send their souls to heaven." 

"Maybe another day," Tommy promised, after his mouth finally began to work again. This was... well something! The woman opened her mouth to object, but Tommy cut her off. "Really, if you excuse me..." 

"Well, can I just leave a flyer then?" she asked. Clearly it was a last ditch effort, but Tommy never saw where she kept them, as he was already closing the door in her face. 


	6. Dinothunder 3

"Stealth really isn't one of your strong suits, dude." 

Ethan rolled his eyes and cast a look over his shoulder at Conner as they continued to walk into the Cyberspace. "I'd like to see if you could do better," he hissed. His eyes bounced back around the room, pausing briefly on the computers, before moving again. 

"I could and would," Conner agreed, and an arrogant smirk painted his face. "For starters," he nodded his head to the walkie talkies that he and Ethan shared. "I'd ditch these things." He demonstrated by turning his off and the surrounding buzzing dimmed. "Second," he continued, "Lose the hat and sunglasses. Duh, indoors? Don't need them. Besides, the first thing girls' notices are guys with no style." 

"Explains you then," Ethan muttered. Conner pretended not to hear him. 

"And third, dude. All black?! Doctor O. pulls it off well, but you? No. Stick to blue. Besides, another one of those 'obvious' things. Black is when you are outside, trying to sneak in darkness. Not in broad daylight in here." 

"Fine. Any other words of advice?" Ethan asked. He picked up the binoculars he wore around his neck and peered around the room. Conner snickered behind him, but he didn't pay attention. Where was Cassidy? 

"Yeah." 

"Well, what?" Ethan snapped when Conner didn't reply. 

"Uh." 

Someone coughed and Ethan turned slowly around. 

Cassidy stood there, hands on her hips, glaring at him. Devin stood a few steps behind her, looking confused. 

"Make sure your 'victim' is actually present." 


	7. Dinothunder 4

"Code names?" Kira's nose wrinkled in protest, "why _code names_?" 

"It _is_ the scifi thing to do," Conner reminded her. Both Kira and Ethan gave him surprised looks. "What?" Conner looked sheepish. "Ethan _does_ rub off on a person." 

"Strange as this conversation may be," Ethan smirked, "back to the topic. Code names." 

"Again I ask, _why_?" 

Ignoring the question, Ethan bounced at the heels of his feet, "I think Kira should be called 'Vociferate.'" 

"'Vociferate?'" Kira asked. "What does _that_ mean?" 

"Sounds like something we shouldn't know about," Conner muttered, and the other two ignored him. 

"Yelling loudly. To shout. And duh, that's _you_," Ethan reminded her. 

"Okay, then we should call you Geekboy, because that's what _you_ are." 

"Now, now," Conner interjected. "Play nice." 


	8. Dinothunder 5

Two random unconnected 100 word challenges: 

Gently, he ran his fingers across her face, touching the soft skin of her cheek. It grew warm beneath him and Trent's lips were a wisp of a smile. 

It had taken them so long to get to this point. Every time he had tried, she'd flinch away and he was grateful for their progress. 

"I'm going to kiss you," he told her, his voice as low as a whisper. 

She nodded and when he leaned forward, she leaned backward, just as their lips were to meet. 

"Kira?" he asked, hurt. 

She didn't say anything, but her expression said enough. 

-- 

"Trent..." 

"Can't we start over?" 

The pain in Trent's voice was audible, but there was nothing else Kira could say but what was already said. 

"You hurt me, Trent. I just can't forget it. You nearly killed me, and the others..." Conner... 

"I didn't mean it..." 

"But it happened. It wasn't my fault, or yours. Blame Mesogog," she didn't notice Trent's flinch. "I can't just pretend it didn't happen. We aren't the same people we were when I got tongue tied in your presence that first day." 

"Maybe we never were those people." 

Kira didn't respond. She didn't have to. 


	9. SPD 1

"Its just a game, Elizabeth. Like in that Disney movie. We help them and-" 

"-be heroes, like the Power Rangers, and live happily ever after."

"Yeah." Jack turned his face towards the night sky, silently counting the visible stars. "Like a fairy tale."

"If you think that would help us become something, you're crazy." She crossed her arms across her chest, bottom lip sticking out. She hated this. She hated Jack. She was twelve, not five. She knew what 'happily ever after' was, and it wasn't helping the mutant population survive. It was having warm clothes and the occasional bite of food. It was being on your own (and away from the gangs) and thankful that some cop didn't arrest you. Or one of the older kids didn't - she shuddered - do something to you. A second time.

It was just surviving.

Jack took a long time to respond and Elizabeth wondered if he'd fallen asleep. It was known to happen.

"I can walk through walls, Elizabeth. Remember how freaked you were when I fell through the wall at the grocery store when we were nine? I stole you that day and since then... You've helped me more than you know. I want to do the same for other people. I can't do it alone - you need to help me help them." 'Or who else will?'

Elizabeth closed her eyes and slowly counted to ten. She remembered that day as if it was yesterday. A body falling through bricks and how she almost screamed before he whispered for her help. It had been them together since then. Always together, no matter what happened. How could she deny him this? It was just another adventure. Another round of their survival. Together.

"Alright," Elizabeth said slowly. "But only on one condition."

Jack leaped to his feet, face dancing under the moonlight. "What?" He wondered what she would say. She was so crazy. For a girl.

"Call me Z."

And so began a modern tale of Robin Hood. Without the tights.


	10. SPD 2

It was embarrassing. Maybe even more than the time that Bridge walked in on her naked, and _that_, had been awkward. Conversation had been strained for days after that _event_, and sometimes she still caught sideway glances from him. 

Z was staring at her. 

Syd was staring back. 

Could the ground _be any_ slower at swallowing her whole? 

"You are serious." 

"Um." Syd shrugged. "I plead the fifth?" 

"I mean... wow, Syd. I really didn't see it coming. You and _him_? He's like..." 

Syd bristled, and a frown slipped into place. "Watch _it_, Z." 

"I always figured you'd end up with Bridge." 

"_Bridge_?" Syd's nose wrinkled. "He's... well..." 

"Like me and Jack? Siblings?" Z suggested. A grin lingered around Z's lips as Syd gave an energetic nod. Maybe a little _too_ energetic. "OK. I get it." 

Syd leaned back on her bed, legs stretched out in front of her. She stared up at the white ceiling and counted the glow-in-the-dark stars that littered the surface. "Don't tell him, though. I think I'd offend him." 

"Offend him?" Z looked startled. "How could you offend him?" 

"Sky has his future already mapped out. I don't have a place in it. I think he'd get mad if I disrupted it." 

Z thought about the Sky _she_ knew. His life had already been disrupted since she and Jack had joined the team. Would he really object to a little bit more? 

"Sky might surprise you." 

And she was right. Syd already knew that. He'd surprised her since the moment they'd met. 

_"I'm... kinda famous." Syd ignored the "no, duh" expression on Bridge's face. She concentrated on her other new teammate's expression. He didn't look phased in the least. "Famous, you? You don't look that important to me, Miss Drew." It was almost a scoff. _

"Syd. Call me Syd." 

"Sydney." A long pause. "I'm Sky." 


	11. Inspace 2

Notes: I wrote this back in '02 and found it on a disc today so I thought I'd post it. It feels complete, more or less.

The echo of Andros' boots clacked along the tiled floor and he was reminded again of how silent and lonely the MegaShip was when the other Rangers returned to earth for monthly visits. There always seemed like there was something missing -- something vitally important but Andros could never figure out exactly what it was. It was like a piece of the ship, itself, was gone and there was just this void that Andros knew all too well.

How many restless nights had he spent doing just this? Roaming the hallways, double checking the rooms to make sure everything was in place, not disturbed?

Too many too count.

He sighed, and shook his head. Life was different now. He didn't need to make sure every room was perfect, that there were no unexpected intruders going through things better left forgotten.

It was such a hard routine to break.

But he had to break it. He could still remember Ashley's shocked expression when she'd caught him making her bed. 'You shouldn't mess with my things,' she had chided. 'I can take care of myself, Andros. You need to let go.'

'I did,' he'd stubbornly argued.

'Then why are you in here?'

And why did he still insist on daily inspections of his ship when the duties were so equally divided?

Being alone did that to someone. And being alone could happen again, any second, so why should he lower his guard to be hurt?

It was insane, and so he refused to quit.

There was a crackle above his head and he instinctively ducked, only to feel foolish at the sound of DECA's voice.

_Andros,_ came the prompt dialogue, _the others will be returning shortly._

"Thanks, DECA," Andros replied, nodding curtly up at the console on the ceiling. He lowered his gaze and continued down the hallway towards the Bridge, where the lights shone brightly into the dimmed hallway.

As soon as he stepped onto the Bridge, he fell into his chair and began to fiddle around with the consoles. Acting important always made him feel better, even when he did nothing at all.


	12. Mysticforce 1

"Who is the girl, Xander?"

Xander jumped at the sound of the familiar female voice. Quickly, he shoved the picture into his pocket, and gave a slight jerk of his shoulders.

"No one important."

Madison tilted her head to the side, staring curiously at him, face unmasked by her camera. "Aw, c'mon Xan, who is she really?"

"Just a girl I met... online..."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I met her, and we sparked, and now..."

Madison gave him a dubious smile. "You're dating someone you've never met? How can you 'spark?'"

"She's his pretend girlfriend," Nick informed her, coming up behind her. He smiled knowingly at Xander. "He bought a girlfriend on eBay so Chip would leave him alone about double dating."


	13. Newsies

This is supposed to be a PR/Newsies (set in a modern setting) little drabble of Karone and Jack. Their names are never mentioned, but its obvious. I'm just playing around in a new obsession.

--

He took her offered hand and lightly kissed her knuckles.

"Enchante, mademoiselle," he breathed. Her cheeks flushed a red tint and she quickly jerked her fingers out of his loose grip.

"It was nice to meet you, too," she replied awkwardly. No man had ever shown this much interest in just a meeting with her. Between being groomed to be evil and kissing Dark Specter's feet, when had she ever had time to go out with a guy? The Zhane Mistake, not included.

Not to mention becoming the pink power ranger.

So it was no surprise that she'd be a little awkward right now.

He was smooth enough for two.

--

He recognized her on first sight.

Just because California was on the other side of the 'states didn't mean he wasn't aware of what was going on outside of himself (which was the popular opinion, despite his protests.)

The once feared villain, princess of all things evil, turned out to be just a girl who was brainwashed since she was four. The red ranger turned out to be her brother and she went off to redeem herself, only to become a pink ranger and return to earth when she wasn't need anymore.

Really, it should be David in love with her, not him.

But rather like the movies, the hero always got the girl.


End file.
